Delving into the Unknown
by deep.in.darkness
Summary: They say ignorance is bliss. And I've learnt it the hard way. But all in all, I suppose, what I've learnt made me who I am today. My name is Ash Dryth, son of Hades. And this the story of my life. Part of it, at least.
1. Foreword

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters that_ will_ be used in this story in future chapters.

_Again, I find myself in this dark abyss. Again, I find myself in this place, where my nightmares come to life. I am floating in midair, feet kicking, unable to find solid ground. I see. I see a broken clock, stuck still in time. I see fragments of glass, edges sharp enough to cut through stone. And then, I see her. She has her back towards me, long mahogany hair flowing down her back like a river. Although she is only a flickering, barely identifiable image, my pupils dilate in shock and recognition. I extend a shaking arm towards her, before she disappears, slowly fading into nothingness. And just like that, she's gone._

This is kind of a foreword….I guess?


	2. Chapter 1

I wake up to a bucket of cold water being thrown at me, and I immediately sit up, hands swiping at my wet face. I groan and keep my eyes shut, unwilling to wake up.

"Wake up, you useless bastard! You have chores to do!" When I blink open my eyes blearily, a plump woman is glaring at me, an empty bucket in her hands.

"Yeah, yeah, Mrs. Bullock. I'm awake." I mutter in annoyance, dragging myself up from the floor. Orphanages these days, honestly.

Yawning, I ambled towards the toilet (if you could even call it one, that is), and slammed the door behind me. As I stand in front of the dirt-encrusted sink, I stare listlessly at my own reflection. A canvas of ivory decorated by bruises, raven hair, and bloodshot black eyes, adorned by a few cracks here and there. I slam my fist against the cracked mirror, and to my satisfaction, the glass cracks even more.

After doing my usual morning routine in the toilet, I head downstairs for breakfast, and am greeted by a sudden blast of noise. The other orphanage kids are huddled around the tiny table, chatting, play-fighting and eating. I sigh as I finally manage to squash myself between two random kids.

"Your oatmeal, brat." I flinch, dodging instinctively as a bowl of oatmeal is slammed onto the table in front of me. I don't have to look behind me to know who it is. Yep, _dear _Mrs. Bullock again.

"Anyway," Mrs. Bullock says before she realizes that no one can hear her above the ruckus those noisy kids are making. I snicker silently as I take in her face, twisting into an annoyed expression. "YOU BRATS, LISTEN TO ME!"

The room is suddenly so silent you can hear a pin drop.

"As I was saying, one of you kids have FINALLY been adopted," Mrs. Bullock bellows, a curving, triumphant grin adorning her face. The first thing I thought when I saw her expression was _this is not going to be good_.

**Author's Note:**

Sorry, the updates are going to be short, but I'll try to update regularly. As I have more time and less homework, the length of the chapters will increase, I promise. Thank you.


	3. Chapter 2

"Ash Dryth, you have been adopted."

My eyes widen in shock upon hearing that I, Ash Dryth, will finally be leaving this hellhole. No way. I must have heard wrong.

"R-really?" I ask in disbelief, unsure of whether or not to believe the good news. Mrs. Bullock nods sharply towards me, before turning on her heel. Probably heading to her room, where she'll just sit and watch TV with a big tub of popcorn. Normally, I would roll my eyes at this, but I'm too shocked by the fact that I'm finally being adopted, that someone would even adopt ME to care. _ Thank the gods I'm finally getting out of this place_, I think in my head.

_Clang clang clang!_

I groan when I hear the clashing of pans in the kitchen remind me to go join the other orphanage kids in doing chores. Scanning the list on the wall for my chores of the day, I make a mental list of them. _Laundry, bed-making, cleaning the floors and windows, grocery shopping and cooking dinner, _I think, noticing that Mrs. Bullock seems to have given me the most chores as a present for this being my last day here.

"Ah well, time to go do my last day of chores." I mutter to myself, my tone slightly lighter than usual. Heading to the laundry room just across the hall, I push open the door and am blasted in the face with a bunch of bubbles. I sigh as I lift my hand to swipe the foamy bubbles off my face. This might be my last day at this place, but it might just be the worst one.

* * *

"Lucky you, Ash. Just think, bro, after this day, and you're free to leave! You can start a whole new life! You just gotta survive this one day, man." My best friend PJ, as he calls himself, tells me as we walk down the bustling road towards the market to do grocery shopping.

"I suppose so." I reply shortly, stuffing my hands in my pockets.

"I know so. C'mon dude, you've never been anywhere except for the market and the orphanage-"

"And the library." I quickly interrupt.

"Yeah, yeah, the library," PJ rolls his eyes at me. "But the world out there, is way way bigger than what you've known your entire life, bro. I mean, you've been stuck in that ol' orphanage your whole life, right?"

"I guess…" I shrug as I push open the grocery store door, striding in coolly. PJ frowns at me, but doesn't say anything as we head in different directions to start fetching all the items on the grocery list that Mrs. Bullock left us.

I bend down to fetch a tub of popcorn from the lowest shelf, one hand reaching up to brush my fringe away from my eyes. At the same time, I see a faint silhouette of a pale man in a black suit. My eyes widen, and one word immediately pops into my mind. _Father._ Almost as quickly as it appears, it vanishes again. I think hard for a while.

_ Did he come back for me?_

"Nah…" I mutter to myself, concluding that I had been hallucinating, and what I saw was merely a trick of the light. Better to stick with reality than to continue hoping for something that will never happen. Picking up the tub of popcorn, I brush imaginary dust and whatever just happened off my pants, put the popcorn in my grocery basket, and move along the aisle.

* * *

By the time I've completed all my chores, the sky is pitch black and all the other orphanage kids are fast asleep, curled up on the cold wooden floor. I groan as I drag my weary feet up the stairs, one hand massaging my overworked shoulders. Moping until I get to my room, I get ready to turn my brain to sleep mode as the door hinges creak when I push open the door, only to see an unusual sight.

" I see you decided to make an unexpected and unappreciated appearance." I say curtly. Mrs. Bullock smiles a sickly sweet smile (which makes me want to puke) as she gestures to a man wearing a beanie and a formal, midnight black suit. My bed (which they were sitting on) creaks in complaint as she shuffles in her position to sit closer to the (poor) man, who stares at her as if she is a lunatic. I can't blame him.

Mrs. Bullock's eyes narrow ever so slightly as she opens her two fat slugs (also called lips) which are caked in lipstick to say, "Ash darling, this is your new foster father, Mr.…um…what was it again, sweetie?" she questions the man, batting her eyelashes as if her very life depended on it. The man ignores her, and continues to stare into space, his hollow pupils not moving a single bit.

Sensing the man doesn't seem to be answering her (and doesn't seem to want to either), Mrs. Bullock turns back to me and stands up from my bed. She waddles forward to stand in front of me, eye to eye….erm….nose to neck , and tilts her head up to look at me, her foul breath invading my nose.

"You better start packing. You're leaving today in ten minutes sharp. Now go pack up, you useless bastard!" She hisses before she walks out the room, her heels clacking against the floorboards, but now before she turns around to stare at the man sitting on my bed, who has not moved a single inch.

"Call me sometime, honey pie." With that and a wink, the door finally closes behind her.


End file.
